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Re: SUO: Re: Ballot Comment - 3D versus 4D.




>Chris,
>
>I mostly agree with you, except for the terminology:
>
> > BTW I think endurantist and perdurantist are better terms than 3D and 4D as
> > what is at stake is a view on what change is (see, for example, 
>Chap 8 of my
> > book).

I agree with Chris on this, and will continue to use that 
terminology. Its easy to remember: endurantists are people who think 
that things endure, ie retain their identity through time. 
Perdurantists are the other guys.

>I prefer 3D and 4D for the following reasons:
>
> 1. They are immediately intelligible without a lot of further
>    explanation.

Unfortunately, they are also immediately misunderstandable without a 
lot of further explanation, and are indeed widely misunderstood 
probably for this reason.

> 2. People can remember them.
>
> 3. The nature of change, causality, location, etc., are all
>    important issues, and the terms 3D and 4D leave those issues
>    unstated (which at this point, I believe they should).
>\

? I fail to follow you here. Surely this issue is entirely about 
change, causality, etc.? If it were just a matter of geometry, then I 
think everyone would be inclined to leave it to the mathematicians.

> 4. The people who invented and promoted the en- and per- terms have
>    some metaphysical axes to grind that I don't fully agree with.

John, as the leading CSPeirce groupie, you can hardly object to the 
use of terminology that was coined by people with metaphysical axes 
to grind.

Pat

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